Is my agreement valid - desperate lodger need help please!

Wendy2896

Hope someone can help me please.

I moved in current flat one month ago as a lodger ( landlord lives in the flat as well), paid deposit which equals one and half month rent, signed the agreement without reading it carefully.
it is a 10 months agreement and says:

1) the landlord can keep all my deposit if I terminate the agreement before end of term,
2) If I delay making my rent payment for 5 days, he can ask me to move out and keep all the deposit.
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After moving in, I found the landlord is very inconsiderate flat mate. he has shower at 2 o'clock in the morning and makes big noise, he went in my room when I was not home without letting me know etc.. and he can be voilent, he shouted at me and threated to hit me when I told him I wanted to give him one month notice to move out ( I called police when he threats to hit me,but he shouted at me again once the police left).

next week I am due to pay my next month rent, the landlord said if I delaying making payment for 5 days, he can kick me out and keep all my deposit. I really dont want to carry on living in the flat, but the deposit to me is a huge amount considering my personal situation.

can any please advice where I stand, can the landlord keep all my deposit as he said? I know as a lodger I dont have my rights, but any helpful advice will be very appreciated.

many thanks

LandyAndy

Sounds a nice little earner for him.

Gets you in, harasses you til you go, pockets the deposit, rinse and repeat.

You've signed a contract with him so the only question is whether it would stand up in court.

He could throw you out at any time with minimal notice but I don't think that is his game.

19lottie82

OK, as a lodger you don't have to see out a 10 month term and he can't keep your deposit if you move out earlier, BUT if he does and you want to get it back, you may have to take him to the small claims court.

dancingfairy

It appears to be a very unfair contract, heavily weighted in the landlord favour.
How much is the deposit? Is it much more than 1 months rent? I'd be tempted to not pay the rent and just disappear to be honest and let him take you to court.
It might be worth a trip to CAB to see where you stand though.
df

SerialRenter

dancingfairy wrote: »

How much is the deposit? Is it much more than 1 months rent? I'd be tempted to not pay the rent and just disappear to be honest and let him take you to court.

Looks like 1 and a half months rent, so the OP would lose out on half a months rent.

Talk to Shelter too.
It's good you called the police as there will be a record of the incident now. Log everything he does that you consider intimidating in a log book/on your pc (don't forget to backup!).

If you do have to take legal action that'll be very useful.

spacey2012

You stand to lose half a months rent.
Find another room and move out with the rent.
Put safety first, worry about a bit of money later.

LandyAndy

spacey2012 wrote: »

You stand to lose half a months rent.
Find another room and move out with the rent.
Put safety first, worry about a bit of money later.

I took it that the OP paid 1.5 months rent as deposit and a month's rent in advance when they moved in.


With rent due next week they will lose all the deposit (in the first instance) if they move out now.

[Deleted User]

The problem is, if he doesn't pay the rent, he doesn't have the rights a tenant with a tenancy agreement would have. The landlord (as the OP is a lodger) can just lock him out with no or little notice. So he probably wouldn't be able to withold the last month's rent in expectation of losing the deposit without risking losing his place to stay. As he has to pay a month in advance, he'll still lose six weeks rent. Plus if the LL has been or threatened violence sufficient to necessitate the police being called, I'm not sure the OP is safe to continue living there.

If he takes the landlord to court.., he still has to find somewhere to live meanwhile, absorbing the loss of six week's rent as deposit as court action (and actually getting the money) could take months.

Unless anyone else has more knowledge of the law for a lodger?

quidsy

Lesson to the op to actually read what he is signing. Amazing how many people post here that they signed stuff willy nilly then found out it was massively in someone elses favour.

Take a bit of responsibility for your own fate.

If you can afford it, walk away & consider it a hard lesson learned.

LandyAndy

deannatrois wrote: »

The problem is, if he doesn't pay the rent, he doesn't have the rights a tenant with a tenancy agreement would have.

quidsy wrote: »

Lesson to the op to actually read what he is signing. .

I suspect, with the username Wendy2896, that the OP is female.

RAS

Wendy

Please ring Shelter urgently.